Homeless for the holidays

A three-year-old boy runs around Freedom Park in Beaufort on a sunny Christmas day without a care in the world.

His father, on the other hand, has a worried mind.

He wonders how many more nights they will have to sleep in their SUV.

Charles Dowd, his wife Darlene and three small children (ages 3, 2 and 11 mos.) have been spending their nights on hunting trails in Carteret County for the past week. Why? They have no place else to go.

The family had recently moved to Durham to find work, saying jobs were scarce here in the east. Charles was working in construction, his wife was a hotel housekeeper.

The Dowds say they had to move when black mold was discovered in the home they were staying in.

After coming back to the coast, the Dowds say that family and friends were either unwilling or unable to help them out. Local services have also been a dead-end.

"We tried churches, they said they were all helped out, DSS wouldn't help us, Salvation Army said they couldn't help," Charles Dowd told NewsChannel 12.

Dowd said they've been bringing the kids to the park to play during the day.

While our crew was there, a friend stopped by and offered them dinner and a place to stay for the night.

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